From left, Haley Maloney, 13, Brieana Isquith, 11, Riley Herring, 13, and Bella Dinicola, 12, gymnists with Gymnastics Revolution, display pins whose purpose is to raise awareness and educate gymnasts, parents, and coaches on how to speak out against sexual or any other type of abuse. The girls were competing at the annual Team Challenge Regional Gymnastics Meet Friday, Feb. 9, 2018, at the O'Neill Center. less

From left, Haley Maloney, 13, Brieana Isquith, 11, Riley Herring, 13, and Bella Dinicola, 12, gymnists with Gymnastics Revolution, wear pins whose purpose is to raise awareness and educate gymnasts, parents, and coaches on how to speak out against sexual or any other type of abuse. The girls were competing at the annual Team Challenge Regional Gymnastics Meet Friday, Feb. 9, 2018, at the O'Neill Center. less

Gymnastics Revolution in Danbury designed pins, part of a campaign to raise awareness and educate gymnasts, parents, and coaches on how to speak out against sexual or any other type of abuse. The girls were competing at the annual Team Challenge Regional Gymnastics Meet Friday, Feb. 9, 2018, at the O'Neill Center. less

Gymnastics Revolution in Danbury designed pins, part of a campaign to raise awareness and educate gymnasts, parents, and coaches on how to speak out against sexual or any other type of abuse. The girls were ... more

Gymnasts with Gymnastics Revolution in Danbury, from left, Mykayla Lavery, Miranda Pues, Jessica Dolcimascolo and Isabelle Messina, are introduced before the start of their competion Friday, Feb. 9, 2018. The girls were competing in the annual Team Challenge Regional Gymnastics Meet at the O'Neill Center in Danbury, Friday, Feb. 9, 2018. less

Gymnasts with Gymnastics Revolution in Danbury, from left, Mykayla Lavery, Miranda Pues, Jessica Dolcimascolo and Isabelle Messina, are introduced before the start of their competion Friday, Feb. 9, 2018. The ... more

Isabelle Messina, a gymnast with Gymnastics Revolution in Danbury, performs on the balance beam during the aanual Team Challenge Regional Gymnastics Meet held at the O'Neill Center in Danbury Friday, Feb. 9, 2018. less

Isabelle Messina, a gymnast with Gymnastics Revolution in Danbury, performs on the balance beam during the aanual Team Challenge Regional Gymnastics Meet held at the O'Neill Center in Danbury Friday, Feb. 9, ... more

DANBURY — A local gym hopes national attention from former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar’s conviction for decades of sexual abuse can help start a conversation about safety in the sport.

The Starr Road gym, Gymnastics Revolution, has launched a program to educate gymnasts, parents and coaches on how to both prevent and stamp out any kind of abuse.

The program, called “Gymnast Warriors,” kicked off this weekend at the Team Challenge Regional Gymnastics Meet at Western Connecticut State University, where over 1,200 gymnasts from Connecticut and neighboring states are competing. The gym set up posters and handed out buttons Friday to promote the new initative.

Gym owner Brian Bakalar said the Nassar case prompted him to explore whether gyms, no matter how safe, are doing everything they can to make sure there is “nowhere for a predator to hide.”

“How do we turn this into something positive?” Bakalar said. “While we want what the victims have gone through to go away and we want them to heal and do everything we can to help them, what can we do at our level right here out on the front lines with the current kids?

“The answer is, educate them — educate the parents, the other coaches and the other facilities — and try to get people communicating and talking and speaking up.”

Nassar, who was a doctor for USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University, was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison last month after more than 150 women and girls said in court that he had sexually abused them.

The first step for the resulting Gymnastics Revolution program was a “town hall style” meeting this week with parents, coaches and staff, Bakalar said.

The participants decided the most important message of the program should be to empower young gymnasts and make sure they know parents and coaches are there to help should anything go wrong.

The posters and buttons made for this weekend’s meet read “you are the power” and “we are listening.”

“That’s what went wrong in the Nassar case, people knew about it and didn’t listen and solve it,” Bakalar said. “We’re still finding our legs and trying to figure out what we’re trying to accomplish here, but for now it’s trying to let these kids know if you need to talk to an adult, there are adults here who are listening.”

Bakalar said he hopes raising awareness at the meet, which includes athletes from 30 other programs, can help open the conversation to other facilities.

The posters direct participants to a Gymnast Warrior Facebook page, where they can find articles, messages of empowerment and tips for talking about the issue.

The program might also soon add online training geared toward addressing incidents of abuse and the requirements for reporting it.

Coach Sharon Bolander, who teaches girls ages 8 through 18 with Gymnastics Revolution, said she would be open to adding the programs to existing safety training. Now, all coaches are required to go through background checks and a “safety support” certification, which includes information about emotional and physical abuse, Bolander said.

She added that staff likely won’t specifically address the issues during practices because they need to make sure they have parents’ consent to do so, but she hopes to set up separate discussion groups for those that are interested.

The discussions can help educate parents and gymnasts about “what is OK and what is not OK” in coaching relationships, Bolander said.

“I want them to walk away confident that they felt safe,” Bolander said. “And, that (gymnastics) is a fun experience they can look back on and say ‘those were the good old days.’ ”